Hi! I’m looking for some new sci fi books to get into, I think with Project Hail Mary getting really big it’s just getting me in the mood. I don’t read so much sci fi, but I do read a lot (mostly high/epic fantasy), so idk if I want “beginner” sci fi. I also am not gonna read humongous sci fi classics that have 30 books in the series, no matter how good they are I just don’t think I can get into it. Just some good, fun, well written and thought out science fiction.
I don’t feel like Terry Pratchet is for me and I’ve heard of the Bobbiverse and I want to read it but it’s not the vibe for right now. Also Jurassic Park is one of my favorite movies so if the book is worth reading, please lmk! I generally love all things space and dinosaurs and science lol idk if this helps with recommendations but I figured I’d mention it.
Here are some books I’ve already read/plan on reading:
The Martian and Project Hail Mary (loved both), I’ve also read Artemis- it was good, not my favorite.
The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
The Murderbot Diaries
The Expanse Series
Dungeon Crawler Carl (dunno if this counts as sci fi but I’m gonna say it does)
TYIA!!
by FlightTraditional717
12 Comments
How High We Go In the Dark
In Ascension
It’s not the pinnacle of literature but I always found Ready Player One to be really fun.
Cryptonomicon
Annhilation by Jeff vandermeer
Shards of Earth series
If you like *Dark Matter* you should add ***Recursion* by Blake Crouch (2019)** to your list. And maybe ***Upgrade* (2022)**, though I rarely recommend it because it was my least favorite of the three.
I loved Red Side Story by Jasper Fforde. Read it 3 times the same month.
Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh is great
The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson – there’s a sequel (I have it in my TBR but have heard it’s also great) but no big series, no 50-year “canon” that you need to know for context, just a kind of cyberpunk/Mad Max parallel universes story.
Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki – standalone, won a bunch of awards. Starts with a little bit of an emotional gut-punch but turns into a really fun, kind of weird & goofy, combination of fantasy and scifi and good warm happy vibes.
If you liked Project Hail Mary, I’d really recommend Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky – it’s got big science ideas and that sense of discovery, but it’s still very readable and surprisingly emotional. It’s technically part of a series, but the first book stands really well on its own.
Also, Substack’s The Next One Piece (thenextonepiece [dot] substack [dot] com) has been my favourite thing to dip into lately – it leans more sci-fi/fantasy hybrid, starts with a dystopian setup and grows into this bigger strategic story with layered characters and factions. It’s not heavy sci-fi, but it scratches that “fun but thoughtful world” itch.
Since you mentioned Jurassic Park – the book by Michael Crichton is 100% worth it. It’s a bit darker and more technical than the movie, but in a really engaging way, and the science angle is stronger without slowing things down.
You might also like Recursion by Blake Crouch if you enjoyed Dark Matter – same fast-paced, mind-bendy sci-fi but with a bit more emotional weight.
And for something space-y but not overwhelming, A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine is great – more political sci-fi with really cool worldbuilding, but still very character-driven.
We Are Satellites by Sarah Pinsker
The Stars Now Unclaimed by Drew Williams
The Last Watch by J. S. Dewes
Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto
A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys
Redsight by Meredith Mooring
The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders
>all things space and dinosaurs
You may like this short story! [The Endangered Camp](https://escapepod.org/2018/05/17/escape-pod-628-the-endangered-camp/) by Ann Leckie. However, Ann Leckie’s novels may be too close to “humongous sci fi classics”, haha.
*Jurrasic Park* is well worth reading, as is most of Crichton’s other work.